The weather has been unseasonably cool here in Arizona. It is May and spring is still in bloom. Thank goodness! The summer heat will come soon enough!

We decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and pack up old See-More for a Polaris Palooza to check out how high the water was at San Carlos Lake. Because of the long drought, it has been getting lower, and lower.

This cold, wet winter has been wonderful for the lake. It was high and beautiful!

San Carlos lake is located on the San Carlos Indian Reservation just East of Globe, AZ.

For a bit more safety, we parked in the Bashas parking lot and unloaded there. We then proceeded to Hwy 170 and went under the overpass southwards towards the lake. We kept on the main road until we came to the sign that pointed to Old San Carlos.

There are lots of dirt roads to explore around the lake. We were quite surprised that there was a memorial there. There were plenty of signs leading the way.

The artwork was very pretty and quite touching.

It was very interesting to read the feelings of the Apache people. It made me sad that they feel this way.

I felt like I was amongst a very proud people. It was a beautiful memorial. I highly recommend taking a moment to get out and enjoy the culture all around you.

There are quite a few small walking paths around the memorial as well. They have added signs that identify what type of plant you are looking at as well

The views were very beautiful wherever we looked.

Time to get back into the Ranger and head out to explore some more!

We have been coming to this lake for many years now, and for the past couple of years the water has been so low that the boat ramps were not even in the water. Today we wanted to see if all of the winter rain had helped with the water level.

We headed our way over to the boat ramp near the dam. We were very happy to find that the water was up quite high. We could certainly load our boat here if we wanted to.

I don’t know what is about this area, but every blank space on a building or sign was all marked up with graffiti. Art work? Lol!

At least the beautiful dam was clean and majestic.

There was literally no one around the dam for the hour we spent walking there. It felt a little like an apocalyptic movie. Where is everyone?

I was very glad for the space though. We were able to walk across the dam and really check things out.

This is the Calvin Coolidge Dam. It was dedicated by Calvin Coolidge himself back in 1930. In its day, it must have been spectacular! Even today, the details are impressive.

I liked the C and C for Calvin Coolidge incorporated in the wall. Even the light fixtures must have been a true sight to behold when they were working.

But the most impressive decorations of all were the three eagles perched along the top of the dam. They were and are amazing!

I have driven over this dam several times, and never knew these spectacular eagles were even there! They are only visible if you walk across the dam and lean over the edge to look down at the water coming out on the other side.

And there was certainly a lot of water coming out! It was amazing!

This water continues down into the desert as the Gila River.

We enjoyed walking along the dam and taking pictures.

There were quite a few lizards out warming themselves on the cement. This little guy was enjoying his afternoon lunch!

Well, that was fun, but See-more was getting tired of waiting and started calling for us to come on back and get on our way again!

Here is a picture of the road. It is in need of some attention. I imagine that in another decade or so it will be mostly dirt.

Oh well, it is perfect driving for a Polaris palooza! Off we go, further down stream. We headed back toward San Carlos, picked a road heading left just past the dam, and started exploring again.

The cacti were amazing. We went from scrub brush to blooming Yucca, from massive quantities of cholla to prickly pear and saguaros.

We usually run into a few curious cows along the way, but this time we were greeted quite warmly by a few kind horses:)

We followed the road to the river where we ran into a weighing station.

Near the station was a very pretty little pool that was a perfect picnic area. If only the kids were with us, they might have liked to jump in for a swim!

Even the old tree stumps and branches were beautiful.

We were even lucky enough to see a cute little vermillion flycatcher hopping and flitting from tree to tree:)

We found an old boat by the river. We have all decided it might be a fun adventure to buy or rent some kayaks and try our hand at paddling down the river. It looked so fun!

This may just be my favorite palooza of all time! – Say “Hi” Tom!!

To end the day, we decided to try the Apache Gold Casino Steakhouse, but it didn’t open until 4:00. So.. we added one last little adventure to our Palooza day.

Back in Globe are the Besh-ba-Gowa Ruins. We took a short drive to go check them out while we waited for about an hour.

They were pretty cool. We could walk around the old 1300’s city and see how the used to live.

It was worth the wait. We had a wonderful day. And the steak was delicious too!

Thank you for stopping by today. I hope we have inspired you to hop in your outdoor vehicle and go exploring. If you have any great places you think we should visit, please leave a comment below and we will go check it out.

Have a super day!!